


A Son's Love

by Anonymous



Category: Good Luck Charlie
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Cars, Cigarettes, Divorce, Fluff and Angst, Food, Future Fic, Gen, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mother-Son Relationship, Other Duncans Are Mentioned, Smile, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29478615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Gabe takes care of his broken mother
Relationships: Amy Duncan & Gabe Duncan
Kudos: 3
Collections: anonymous





	A Son's Love

He knocked on the apartment door, knowing it is already open. It just didn't feel right to just walk in.

His phone buzzed and he he looked at it. A text said "it's open", just like it always does.

Gabe Duncan walked in to the small messy apartment and closed the door. He locked it, knowing criminals come around this area. 

He made his way to her bedroom, where she also was when he comes to visit. 

Her bedroom door was opened but he still knocked on it as he stood in the doorway. 

Amy sat on her bed. She no longer looked like the woman she was a decade ago. Her blonde hair was full of greyness, there was bags under her eyes, and she had various scars on her face, arms, and legs from various fights.

Her bedroom was a mess. There were clothes everywhere, empty chip bags on the floor, and various bottles of alcohol sat on the floor next to her bed.

She turned to her son. "You're here early."

He nodded and entered the room. "I thought getting her early would give me more time to help. How have you been?"

"Bitter. I heard that he is getting married." Her tone switched to venomous. 

Gabe nodded his head. "Y-yes. He is. It is happening in six months."

The person in question was Bob Duncan. Gabe's father and Amy's ex-husband. 

Amy sniffed and said "Good for him" in the most sarcastic way possible. "The Ladies told me about it."

"The Ladies" were a group of criminals who usually vandalized stuff and stole from stores. Gabe didn't like that his mom was friends with them. He didn't bother to acknowledge the cruel irony that he used to be a bad troublemaker kid and now he is trying to keep his mom from hanging out with troublemakers. 

Desperate for a change of subject, he asked, "When was the last time you bathed?"

Amy looked up for a few moments, thinking before turning to him. "The day you brought me pizza."

Gabe nodded his head. "I'll make you a bath."

He left the room and headed towards her bathroom. He got the water running and let out a sigh. Staring at the water, he was took back to him and his family being told his mother had been arrested.

She and her friends from TV had went out for one's birthday and there was drinking involved. Too much drinking, so much so that a fight broke out between all of them which led to them being arrested.

His dad had got her out of jail but things weren't the same afterwards. She was fired from her job and things went downhill from there.

He shook his head and turned off the hot water. He stood up and went back to her room. He got her some pajamas out and brought them to the bathroom and she followed.

She gave him a small smile. He knew she wasn't going to say thanks but a part of him believed the smile was her nonverbal way of saying it. He gave her a smile in return as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. 

He got a trash bag out and made his way to her room. He started gathering up her clothes to watch at his place. As he did, he once again thought about the past.

After getting fired from her job, Amy verbally took her anger out on her family. It went on for months until Bob had enough which led to a big argument between the two. They never put their hands on each other, their words did all the hurting.

The argument ended with Bob telling Amy he wanted a divorce. Amy totally broke after that and left the house in anger. 

By morning, she was in jail again. 

Both PJ and Teddy repeatedly tried to help Amy with her issues but she continued to push them away and get into more trouble with the law. 

After numerous failed help attempts, the two gave up and cut her off completely. Life went on for all the Duncan family members, PJ, Teddy, and Gabe got married, Bob later met a new woman, and Charlie and Toby grew up.

But something never settled right with Gabe. He knew his mother did a lot of the damage to herself and most of what happened was her fault, but he could never let her go and cut her life like his father and older siblings did. His heart hurt every time when he saw Charlie and Toby, knowing they could barley remember their mother.

He searched for his mother for years, but he was never able to find her. It wasn't until six months ago when he was at a gas station that he finally saw her. Homeless, scared, and alone.

He did a lot for her in six months. He bought her an apartment that he pays for every month, he gave her a bed, clothes, and some money. He visits her every Saturday. Only his wife knows about his visits, no one in his family knows.

He finished gathering up the clothes and sighed. He tied up the bag and sat in the living room before heading back to her room to gather up the chip bags and alcohol bottles.

Gabe wished he could help his mother more. He wished that she would listen to him about going to therapy. But he knows you can't make someone do something they don't want to do.

Sighing, he placed the items in the trash and left the room. He made his way to the kitchen. An ashtray full of cigarettes sat in the middle of the small kitchen table and a pack and lighter sat next to it.

He looked in the cabinets and saw she had a box of mac and cheese. He would make her that.

By the time it was done, Amy had exited the bathroom in her pajamas. She gave him another small smile as she saw that he had cooked her something.

He fixed her a bowl and gave it to her and she sat at the table and ate.

When she saw that he wasn't going to sit down. She looked up at him, with a confused look on her face. "Are you not going to eat?"

He shook his head. "I already ate. Besides, I want you to have leftovers."

Nodding her head, she went back to her food.

When she finished, she handed him the bowl with the spoon inside and he started to wash them. Behind him, he could hear her open up the cigarette pack and light one.

When he finished washing them, he dried them and put them back up.

Turning to face his mother, who now had an all white cigarette between her fingers he gave a smile.

"So, I have some news."

She raised her eyebrows at him, her way of telling him to go on.

"Lauren's pregnant." 

Amy's eyes raised at this. She then gave a small smile, but Gabe noticed it was a bigger than the ones she had given early. "Really?" Her tone wasn't mocking or an upset tone, but a happy one. 

Gabe's smile grew. "Yep. 6 weeks."

The smile grew bigger but quickly disappeared from her face as she brought the cigarette to her mouth. Blowing out the smoke, she asked "Will I be able to see your child when it's born."

Gabe gave her a confused look. "Of course you will, mom. You will be their grandmother."

The smile returned to her face but it was different. It was actually a full smile this time and not a small one. She put her cigarette in the ashtray and got up from her seat. She went over to Gabe and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, mom. No matter what, I won't give up on you and I won't keep you from your grandchild. You are my mother and I love you."

Gabe had never been able to say those words to his family. Sure, he loved them but saying it out loud was hard for him. He only ever said to his wife, and now his mother.

The two stayed in the position for a bit longer, both enjoying the moment.

When they broke apart, Amy gave him another smile before going back to the table. She got another puff from the cigarette before putting it out.

"I think I'm going to have go soon. It's getting late." Gabe said, feeling a little sad at having to leave his mother so soon.

Amy pouted but nodded her head. "Can you come back tomorrow?"

Gabe opened his mouth to reply but closed it. Amy saw a look in his eyes and knew he was thinking of something.

"I could..or you can come stay with us for the rest of the weekend?"

"W-wat?" Amy asked, confused. 

"You could stay with me and Lauren. We have an extra bed that you can sleep on. Lauren asks about you a lot and she will be so happy to see you."

Amy stared at him for a moment, her eyes staring to water. "Oh Gabe, of course I'm come stay with you." 

Gabe smiled and hugged his mother and she hugged him back. 

When the two two broke apart, Gabe said "I already have most of your clothes in a bag. So you don't have to bring anything."

Amy nodded her head and reached for her cigarette pack and lighter. She didn't take one out but kept them in her hand. He would allow her to bring those, but not alcohol. He wanted her to stop both, but for now he would focus on alcohol.

He turned everything off in the apartment and grabbed the bag from the living room. He exited the apartment and went outside, where his mother was waiting. She smiled at him again and he smiled back.

The two walked to his car and he put her bag of clothes in the bag before getting in the front. He started the car and backed out of the driveway and started to drive to his house.

Amy put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

The two rode in silent, both very happy.

This was the start to recovery.


End file.
